Just like all carbohydrates, fats and proteins are not created equal from a fat loss or nutrient density standpoint, the same is true for vegetables. Yup, some vegetables are far more healthy than others. There is a particular group of vegetables that are health and nutrient POWERHOUSES. They can facilitate fat loss, boost the immune system, balance hormones and much more. Which vegetables are these? Cruciferous vegetables.
Cruciferous vegetables should become a daily staple in your diet for health, longevity and fat loss. Seriously. Every day. They include veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts and bok choy. I routinely eat 3-5 cups of cruciferous vegetables every day and here are a few reasons why.
They are high in fiber
Because they are a great source of fiber, they’ll help you stay fuller longer, curbing your hunger and reducing your cravings. They can also help to promote bowel regularity.
They are low calorie
Eating 3-5 cups is no big deal because cruciferous veggies are so low calorie. You can enjoy them to your heart’s content, relying on them for snacks, meal fillers or to help satisfy your hunger and cravings without upsetting the caloric apple cart.
They are natural estrogen detoxifiers
We’ve talked before about how there are good forms of estrogen and bad forms. When we have too much estrogen that can really impair our ability to burn fat (among other things). Compounds within cruciferous vegetables help to bind and eliminate the bad estrogens, bringing down your total estrogen load.
They help manage blood sugar and moderate insulin release
Numerous clinical studies have shown that consuming cruciferous vegetables, likely in part due to their high fiber content, helps to reduce blood sugar and therefore manage the insulin response. This allows you to burn fat, as compared to having high blood sugar and elevated insulin, which prevents the ability to burn stored fat.
They are anti-inflammatory
Consuming cruciferous vegetables reduces systemic inflammation. This not only reduces cortisol, a stress hormone that can slow fat loss, but it also protects your overall health. Systemic inflammation is the starting point for almost all chronic disease.
They reduce your risk for cancer
Compounds in cruciferous vegetables known as glucosinolates break down into isothiocyanates and other protective compounds when you chew. Isothiocyanates have been shown in repeated studies to protect your cells from DNA damage, neutralize carcinogens, induce cell death in unhealthy (cancerous and precancerous) cells, and inhibit tumor formation.
Uh, they’re really yummy! ‘Nuf said.
Here are some of my absolute favorite cruciferous vegetable recipes, but I also love to enjoy them steamed or sautéed with a little coconut oil or bacon fat!
Play around with recipes until you find a way to eat these nutritional powerhouses that you absolutely love! Eating your veggies isn’t something to suffer through – it’s something to enjoy!!
There’s lots being said about gluten these days, huh? It seems like most people are wondering if they should eliminate gluten or not and the grocery aisle of gluten-free products is growing by the second! But what IS gluten and who needs to be concerned about it?
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barely, rye and other grains. Due to modern food processing, it’s also in most oat products. We tend to think of those foods as carbohydrates, and they are, but they also contain about 10-15% protein, most of which comes from gluten.
It is estimated that more than 1/3 of the population is sensitive to gluten and this sensitivity manifests in a number of different ways. You might experience headaches, acne, stomach discomfort, mood swings, bloating, joint pain, fatigue or menstrual irregularities. On the other hand, you might not notice any physical symptoms even though gluten may be triggering silent, symptomless inflammation throughout your body that might not produce symptoms for years!
Some people avoid gluten for health reasons. Others avoid gluten to accelerate their fat loss goals. Today I want to talk about some of the reasons you might want to consider eliminating gluten to help support your fat loss efforts. Here are a few ways gluten can seriously slow your progress:
Gluten may lead to or worsen insulin resistance
Insulin resistance increases hunger, cravings and fat storage. Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the fat-loss process and it can either work for you or against you. Consuming gluten allows insulin to to fight against all your fat loss efforts.
Gluten encourages leptin reistance
Leptin is the hormone responsible for letting your brain know when you’re full and don’t need to eat anymore. Gluten encourages your body to not be as responsive to the messages coming from leptin, which can lead to insatiable appetite and deafness to satiety signals. To successfully lose fat, your want your body to be VERY sensitive to leptin signals to keep hunger at bay and be able to easily feel satisfied after eating.
Gluten-containing foods cause blood sugar spikes
Gluten-containing foods are generally high carbohydrate. This leads to rapid surges in blood sugar and associated insulin spikes. This causes the vicious cycle of carbohydrate cravings, energy crashes and fat storage. Stay far away from this cycle by avoiding these carbohydrate bombs.
Gluten triggers inflammation
What does inflammation have to do with fat loss? It causes a stress response in your body. These stress hormones do NOT favor fat loss. Not only is inflammation a real concern as it relates to overall health, it also makes fat loss far more challenging.
Are you curious to know if you’re sensitive to gluten? The best way to find out is to commit to eliminating it from your diet for 7 days and see how your body responds. After 7 days, begin to re-introduce it slowly and note changes in your mood, energy, water retention, joint comfort, skin health, mental clarity and stomach comfort.
What can you eat if you want to eliminate gluten? A lot!
Eggs
Meat/Fish/Poultry/Game
Dairy
Vegetables
Fruit
Nuts/seeds
Fats/oils
A word of warning: if you want to lose fat, stay away from processed foods. I don’t care if they say “gluten free” – if it’s processed, you shouldn’t be eating it everyday. There is a ton of gluten free junk food out there…it’s still junk food, gluten free or not.
Want to learn a little more about gluten?Click herefor a great overview of gluten and what it can do inside your body, whether you feel it or not!
For detailed information on carbohydrate strategies for fat loss including more on fruit, wheat, oats, gluten plus strategies for improving your carbohydrate tolerance, check out the comprehensive carbs & fat loss ecourse! Follow the link below and use the coupon code Primal10 to get lifetime access for only $69 (including troubleshooting help from me on demand!) https://www.udemy.com/carb-strategies/?couponCode=Primal10
Give me just one second while I climb up onto my soap box….
Y’all. We’ve been lied to. For decades. We have the WRONG impression about dietary fat. Like, really, really wrong. Ready for the cliff notes version of the truth?EATING FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT.In fact, not eating ENOUGH fat might be a big part of the reason you’re gaining fat. No joke. I’m totally serious. I’ve gotta clear this up. These common misconceptions make me so crazy.
It’s really unfortunate that fat on our body is referred to by the same word as dietary fat in foods we eat. That, and a lot of misinformation, has led us to believe that dietary fat leads to an accumulation of body fat.
I’m going to ask you to think about something differently. So, a gram of fat has more calories than a gram of carbohydrate or protein, right? A gram of fat has 9 calories whereas a gram of protein or carbohydrate has only 4. That’s one of the big reasons people think fat is “fattening”. More calories = more weight gain (misleading, but a common thought nonetheless). The problem is that we’re thinking about it alllll wrong. Bear with me while I attempt to clear this up. A calorie isn’t some magical thing that piles up and makes you look fatter. Calories are how we measure the energy potential in food. One more time just because its worth repeating:calories are how we measure the energy potential of a particular food.
So what, right? Basically, dietary fat delivers more than twice as much energy to our bodies than protein or carbohydrate!! That’s a GOOD thing! That means that we can fuel our body for longer on less than we can if we just stuck to protein or carbs.
Research has shown that when you eat a low fat diet you actually increase the activity of certain enzymes that encourage your body to store more fat. On the flip side, ample dietary fat has been shown to increase the activity of enzymes that help you burn stored body fat! How’s that for a twist on what we’ve been taught? Not only that, but a lower fat diet is going to make it much harder to manage your hunger and cravings!
We need fat in our diet if we want to be healthy. Do you realize that your brain is about 60% fat? In addition to being an incredible fuel source and critical component of cognitive health, fats are components of every single cell in your body, they are required for the manufacture of hormones and they are essential for the utilization of many vitamins and antioxidants. If that’s not enough, you need fat for the proper growth and calcification of your bones, they keep your skin soft and supple, they support your immune system and help control your body’s inflammatory response. And that’s just the beginning!
For political and financial reasons we won’t go into (today), ignorance and greed led to the vilification of fat beginning in the 1970s and 80s. The food industry seized the incredible financial opportunity and flooded the market with low-fat and fat-free alternatives. These alternatives were loaded with artificial ingredients and sugar to replace the flavor and mouth feel the fat had been providing.It’s no coincidence that between 1980 and 2008 obesity in adults more than doubled and extreme obesity more than tripled.
We’ve been told to avoid dietary fat and cholesterol to reduce our risk of heart disease. People in positions of authority in medicine and politics have insisted that fat consumption increases the risk of heart disease and dietary cholesterol increases serum cholesterol. We’ve been convinced that dietary fat triggers inflammation and disease. Fat intake is not to blame for any of those things.
So if dietary fat isn’t to blame for heart disease, what is? The short answer is inflammation and oxidation, which are most significantly influenced by insulin (a result of excessive carbohydrate consumption) and cortisol (a result of chronically elevated insulin and physical or emotional stress). I promise, I’ll talk much more about this part another time…
There’s no doubt that there are in fact good fats and bad fats. The bad fats, however, are not saturated fats from animal products. The bad fats are these toxic, plastic fats (trans fats) made in factories and highly unstable fats from crop oils like canola and soybean. They are chemically altered, foreign to our bodies and wreak havoc inside us. They have been linked to just about every disease you can think of. The FDA is now requiring that trans fats be labeled on food products, but there are loopholes. One of the biggest loopholes is that if a product contains 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving it can advertise and label the product as “trans fat free”. That is an issue not only because it’s an outright lie, but also because most people don’t limit themselves to one serving of these foods! They’re designed to make us eat more!
I have SO much more to say on this topic and of course you’re going to hear about it, but this is already getting long and writing this has made me crave bacon (so I’m gonna make some).
But to get you started, a great way to get started is to move away from low fat, chemically altered, processed food choices. When you emphasize whole foods direct from nature you’ll naturally increase your intake of quality, healthy fats. Let go of your fear of butter. Eat a fatty chicken thigh instead of always opting for the super lean breast. Have some bacon, for crying out loud. Add fat. Embrace it. Love it. And while you’re at it, please, please, please lay off the processed garbage!
Let’s start with the not-so-hidden dangerous of processed foods, yeah? THEY AREN’T REAL FOOD. Need we continue? Haha. For real though, let’s think about it for a minute.
An apple comes from an apple tree
A chicken breast from a chicken
A potato grows in the ground
An oreo comes from…..? A factory? No bueno.
Studies have linked consumption of processed foods to obesity as well as various health conditions including heart disease, cancer, ADHD and arthritis. Very few people would probably argue that processed foods are good for you yet these non-food items make up the majority of most Americans’ diets. Get THIS crazy statistic: $0.90 of every food dollar in this country is spent on processed foods. No wonder we’re overweight, tired and sick!!
If you’re looking for lasting fat loss, processed foods have got to go. Here’s what we know: because many crucial nutrients like fiber and healthy fats have been stripped from processed foods, they are easier for your body to digest. That’s not a good thing when it comes to fat loss. What it means is that they spike your blood sugar faster and it plummets almost as quickly. Your body spends less time and energy metabolizing these frankenfoods. This is why you can eat a bag of potato chips and never feel full or scarf down a huge bowl of cereal and be hungry just an hour later. It feels very different to eat a steak or an omelet.
Additionally, because these foods are easier for your body to digest, that means you burn fewer calories during the digestive processed compared to a whole-foods meal. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to enjoy a nice meal, I’d love to burn off as much of it as possible during the digestive process!
It’s important to also realize that the companies producing processed foods are out for one thing: your money. They want you to crave their food. These companies spend millions of dollars on food and behavioral scientists whose job it is to identify just how to make you crave their food and not be able to stop eating it. They’ve identified combinations of flavors and textures that trigger the reward center in your brain, making their processed food item as addictive as a drug. That’s not an exaggeration, guys. Check out the conclusion from a recent study on Oreos:
“…Oreos activated significantly more neurons than cocaine or morphine. ‘This correlated well with our behavioral results and lends support to the hypothesis that high-fat/ high sugar foods can be thought of as addictive”
The goal of many of these food scientists is to capitalize on what is called “vanishing calorie density” – the way foods with very few nutrients but lots of flavor and texture melt in your mouth and require little effort to digest trigger your brain to think you aren’t really eating any calories. You just keep eating, and eating, and eating….
From a fat loss standpoint, processed foods are your worst nightmare. From a health standpoint, they don’t look much better!
Processed foods, in general, are packed with added sugar, salt and unhealthy fats to improve mouth feel, flavor and extend shelf life. If you made a homemade cookie from minimally processed ingredients, could you put it in your pantry for a year and go back and eat it? Uh, no. Foods aren’t meant to have long shelf lives yet processed foods will often look (and taste!) the same after sitting on a store shelf for years. Here’s what I think: if a food has a long shelf life, it’s probably borrowing from YOURS.
Stripped of nutrients like fiber and omega 3s, these foods have little to no nutritive value. They are certainly nutritionally inferior to whole foods like vegetables, fruits and protein. However, they’re covered with marketing “health” claims! These food companies graffiti the packaging with confusing and often misleading claims like “a great source of fiber!” or “sugar free” or “an excellent source of whole grains”. To a consumer who doesn’t understand the risks of processed foods, they might be tricked into thinking they’re making a healthy choice.
Then there are the ingredients themselves – man-made chemicals, artificial colors and flavors that at the very best are questionable with regard to their impact on our health. Studies have been done on many of the common ingredients found in processed foods and the results are frightening. I’m not an alarmist and I think everything stated above is reason enough to avoid these things, but I do want to draw your attention to a few concerning ingredients and urge you to look at the labels before you buy your next boxed or bagged food-creation.
BHA (butylated hydroxyamisole) – used as a preservative, this also has been linked to cancer
Artificial colors – chances are you’ve heard a lot about risks associated with certain artificial colorants and there really is no question that if you’re looking for optimal health – especially for your children – these need to be avoided. For a good overview of the risks associated with artificial colorants, check out this document.
I could go on for days about all the research that has been done but it boils down to a very simple point: our bodies were created to process real food. These man-made frankenfoods are nutritionally inferior to whole foods, they encourage us to overeat and they may in fact be a significant detriment to our health. Keep it clean – eat whole foods.
When I first got out of college I worked in nutrition education. It was my job to help people understand the impact of their food choices on their health and their weight. I found that a lot of people, regardless of their weight, felt confident that they were making good choices at the grocery store and didn’t need to worry too much about food quality for themselves or their children. In general, I think we trust that if we can buy it at the grocery store, it’s fairly safe.
As I did research for my job, I was overwhelmed by how much the landscape of food has changed over the last 100 years or so. I was shocked by how different our food is now than it was then – and I’m not referring to the abundance of processed foods but to changes in whole foods like chicken, eggs and milk.
I’m not an alarmist but I do think it’s important that everyone understand the realities of our food supply so they can make the best decisions possible.
Animal Products
It’s become imperative to consider organic, free-range proteins and dairy options versus conventionally raised. As recently as 100 years ago, there weren’t any factory-farmed animals at all. Animals were raised naturally, allowed to graze and mature naturally. They were not treated with growth hormones and antibiotics. They were not fed genetically modified grain products. They ate grass.
Now, it can be a challenge to find natural, hormone-free meat. Ninety percent of what you’ll find in the grocery store has been significantly manipulated. These animals (and their eggs and dairy products) grew in dark, confined spaces where disease spread easily. They were injected with growth hormones to speed development. These hormones decreased their ability to absorb nutrients from their feed. They were treated with powerful antibiotics throughout their life to try to prevent bacterial overgrowth. Their diets were primarily commercially produced, genetically modified grain also loaded with chemicals, pesticides and antibiotics.
The frightening result? Meat, eggs and dairy that have lower vitamin and mineral content than that of 100 years ago. Meat, eggs and dairy that are laced with growth hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. Meat, eggs and dairy with artificially higher content of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids. Food we can’t trust. Food, quite frankly, that can make us very sick.
Fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables used to be naturally grown by local producers. They weren’t shipped all over the country and the world. They were only seasonally available and they weren’t genetically modified for size and speed of development.
Now, chemical fertilizers are used to accelerate growth. These chemical fertilizers strip valuable nutrients from the soil. Fruits and vegetables are harvested before they’re ripe and allowed to ripen in crates on trucks so they aren’t rotten by the time they get across the country to your grocery store shelf. The combination of reduced soil quality and less time in the ground to absorb nutrients results in fruits and vegetables with significantly lower amounts of essential vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients than that produced 50 years ago or more.
Fruit and vegetable seeds are genetically modified to produce larger crops so they have more commercial appeal. One might think that means more nutritive value but the opposite is actually true. They are bred to have more carbohydrate and water content, making them less nutrient dense.
Some fascinating studies have been conducted on changes in the nutrient profile of our fruits and vegetables. One of the most notable studies, conducted by Donald Davis from the University of Texas at Austin, evaluated changes in the nutrient profile of fruits and vegetables from 1950 vs 1999. He concluded that breeding fruits and vegetables for size and pest resistance significantly reduced the nutrient content by as much as 50%.
So how can we make better choices? It’s not easy but it’s definitely possible and doesn’t need to be more expensive! Buying local produce at a farmer’s market can actually be less expensive than traditional items you’d buy at a grocery store chain!
Good: Buy free-range organic proteins and wild-caught seafood. Buy organic fruits and vegetables.
Better: Find a local farmer’s market. You can stock up on local, seasonal fruits and vegetable and also get meat and eggs from local producers! I also like to buy meat online from reputable farmers. Here are a couple I’ve purchased from before. (I don’t have any affiliate relationship with these companies, just sharing ones I love!) Massa Natural Meats SizzleFish Broken Arrow Ranch
Best: Grow your own! Start with a small herb garden or tomato plant. I’ve started to do that this year and I hope to one day have a few chickens so I can enjoy their eggs.
This isn’t meant to scare you but to help empower you to make better choices for yourself and your family. I know you won’t always have the highest quality options available but it’s important to do the best we can.
Earlier this week I posted an overview of buffers and triggers and shared some common examples of each. Like I said then, understanding my buffers and triggers and working with them is most of the most important differences between my lifestyle change which allowed me to lose over 100 lbs and all my past failed attempts. Here’s a quick recap of what I explained the other day:
Think of a buffer as something that takes the edge off. You know, when everyone around you is enjoying birthday cake and you pop a piece of gum to give you a sweet fix and distract you enough to keep you from grabbing a fist full of cake. They are often a small, dietary concession, which provides mental relief and allows you to stay on track. Buffers don’t have to be food or drink but for me, they often are. I wrote the other day about sweet tooth strategies and some of those are certainly buffers for me! Some common buffers include:
Protein bars
Nuts or seeds
Nut butters
Dark chocolate
Wine
Diet soda
Coffee with stevia and cream
Cheese
The hardest part between buffers and triggers is differentiating between the two and realizing that a buffer can easily become a trigger over time. There’s a fine line between what keeps you on track and what pushes you over the edge. It’s a slippery slope and requires attention and adjusting.
At one point in time, protein bars were a buffer for me. They are sweet, dense and super convenient and I found a few that I thought tasted incredible. I’d keep a couple in my purse at all times and I’d often turn to them mid-afternoon when I was bored and hungry for dinner. At some point though, I started slipping. The sweetness of the bar began to ignite my sweet tooth and I found myself eating two (sometimes 3!) bars and barely even noticing it! My sweet cravings would be out of control for hours or days. My buffer became a trigger. Bars became a tipping point that dragged me off course and made me lose focus. What did I do? Cut out bars. They weren’t a “just in case” go-to buffer. They were Pandora’s box.
I’ve also tried buffers hoping they’d be a buffer but kinda knowing they were a trigger. Enter nut butters. Oh man. Is there anyone who can stop at one tablespoon?? Show yourself! Haha. You have to be honest with yourself. Don’t tell yourself something will take the edge off because you want license to eat it when you know full well you have a hard time turning it off. Like I said, there is a fine line between a buffer and trigger and you MUST be honest with yourself.
So what do I use as a buffer these days? I have a few. Right now, if I am craving something sweet I make a little protein pudding. I usually take 2 scoops of protein and add ½ tsp of caramel extract and just enough unsweetened almond milk to make a thick pudding. I eat it really, really slowly and the sweet creaminess feels so indulgent.
Othertimes, I’ll use nuts and dried fruit. Here’s the catch for me though: I only buy what I will allow myself to eat. I don’t buy a big bag of trail mix. I don’t have enough self-control. I’ll go to Whole Foods or Fresh Market or somewhere I can self-serve select nuts and dried fruits and I’ll put together a tiny amount of each. I make sure that wherever I eat it I’m able to focus and savor each bite.
Arctic Zero protein ice cream. Need I say more? The great thing about this (aside from the taste!) is that you can eat the entire pint. It’s 150 calories, moderate carbs and decent protein. I don’t have to worry about cutting myself off or going overboard. I buy one pint, let it soften a little and take my time to enjoy every spoonful.
There are a few keys to getting the most out of your buffer foods and leveraging them to help you stay on track:
Be honest. We’re all guilty of telling ourselves we can enjoy “just a little”. You know yourself. If it’s a trigger, don’t tell yourself it’s a buffer. At some point, you will probably be able to have just a little but if you aren’t there yet, don’t tempt fate. Avoid it. Be honest.
Don’t overdo it. Use your buffers strategically. Don’t make the case for a buffer food every 3 hours. You want to keep it clean most of the time. Use your buffers only when you really need them.
Don’t white knuckle it. While you don’t want to overdo it, you also don’t want to grit your teeth and tough it out, depriving yourself day after day and being miserable. That will set you up for compensatory eating down the road and that’s always worse (physically and mentally) than a strategically timed buffer.
Keep asking “Is this working?” Remember that your buffers and triggers may change over time. Check in with yourself and make sure whatever you’re using as a buffer is still serving you. If it no longer takes the edge off or starts to send you into a downward spiral check yourself and try a different strategy.
Buffers and triggers are powerful tools when used properly but they do require attention and awareness. Take some time this week to think about what your buffers and triggers might be and start to strategically use them when you need them!
Hey! Have you signed up for my free webinar yet?! Time is running out to reserve your spot! Sunday August 24th at 8pm EST I’ll be covering all the myths surrounding carbs and fat loss! Don’t miss it! Click here to reserve your spot now!
I don’t care if you eat “healthy”. I’m sure that more often than not, you probably do. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter. No offense. I know your intentions are good. Mine were too. I grew up in a home where my mom very much believed in serving healthy, balanced meals. I studied nutrition. I made “healthy” choices.
Healthy eating and fat loss eating are NOT the same thing. A fat loss way of eating IS a healthy way of eating but the reverse is not necessarily true. I’d argue that the standard definition of “healthy” eating isn’t healthy at all but that’s a a discussion for another day. Today I want to talk about eating for fat loss.
If you consider yourself a healthy eater you might be focusing on getting adequate vitamins and minerals in your diet. You might request brown rice instead of white when ordering out and select low-fat dairy options at the grocery. Kudos for your intentions but that’s not going to transform your shape and help you reach your fat loss goals.
I wrote on Facebook the other day about a conversation I had while on vacation. One of my family members was asking me about Primal and what kinds of foods I eat. She shared that she wants to lose some weight and asked what she should be eating for breakfast. She felt like she was making a good choice – granola with fruit and yogurt – but isn’t getting any results. I explained to her that while that breakfast may be considered “healthy”, it is actually working AGAINST her fat loss goals and she needs a major breakfast overhaul. I’ll tell you why…
One of the greatest determinants of your ability to burn fat is your total carbohydrate intake. I’m not about to advocate a “no carb” diet because it’s not necessary for fat loss and I don’t believe in extremes, but hear me out. Carbohydrates trigger the release of insulin. Insulin regulates your blood sugar by ushering glucose into your cells. Insulin is a necessary hormone but it is a STORAGE hormone. It signals your body that plenty of energy is available (via the carbs you just ate or those it has previously stored) so it can go ahead and turn off all your fat-burning machinery because that extra fat isn’t needed for energy. At the same time, it takes all those extra carbs from your meal and sends them away to be stored as fat.
For your body to allow stored fat to be burned, insulin MUST be low. What does that mean in terms of your fat loss food choices? You need to watch your carbohydrate intake. A fat loss diet emphasizes to primary components:
Non-starchy vegetables
Quality protein
One of the most straight-forward ways to transition towards a fat loss way of eating is to start eliminating processed foods. Most are very carb-dense and offer very little nutritive value. Focus on whole foods – foods that are exactly as nature intended them.
From there, structure your meals around your non-starchy vegetables and quality proteins. I usually make sure that about ½ my plate is made up of veggies like brussel sprouts, cabbage, asparagus or greens, another ¼ from quality protein and that no more than 2 of my 4 or 5 meals include a small amount of carbohydrate such as sweet potato, quinoa or fruit.
When I am going to enjoy carbohydrates, I make sure that I time them appropriately to maximize fat loss. I have them in my first meal post workout or at my dinner time meal. I almost ALWAYS avoid carbohydrates in the morning. Here’s why:
When you wake up in the morning your body is in peak fat-burning mode. You’ve been fasting overnight and your metabolism is primed. While you were sleeping, cortisol (a stress hormone) was rising. It’s 24-hour peak is around 7am. If you introduce carbohydrates in the morning, you introduce insulin. Your body is very insulin sensitive after your overnight fast and insulin and cortisol do not play well together. The combination accelerates fat storage. Not only that, but when you raise insulin in the morning (telling your body there is no need for fat burning because fuel sources are readily available via carbohydrates), it limits your body’s ability to burn fat throughout the day.
For that reason, I eat my carbohydrates in the evening when I am less insulin-sensitive and when my cortisol level aren’t at their peak.
Striving for a “healthy, balanced diet” in the traditional sense may not only not help you burn fat, it might actually encourage fat storage. Switching your mindset to focus on the nutritional pillars of a fat loss diet will get you on the fast track to your goals!
Protein is a critical component of the Primal lifestyle. Every meal should be built around clean protein and non-starchy vegetables.
Protein can be a powerful tool along your fat loss journey. It will keep you feeling fuller for longer when compared to carbohydrates or fat. It also helps to balance blood sugar (keeping your energy and mood more stable) and control cravings. Let’s compare 200 calories of each of the three macronutrients and you can quickly see how protein plays such an important part in managing your hunger!
6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast (protein) is approximately 213 calories
1 cup of plain spaghetti (carbohydrate) is approximately 220 calories
2 tablespoons of butter (fat) is approximately 204 calories
Let’s think about it. If I sat down and ate a cup of spaghetti, plain, I’d be hungry again in 20 minutes – max. It wouldn’t fill me up – really – it wouldn’t even come close. And I’d probably be exhausted within an hour after the carbohydrate surge and subsequent crash. And 2 tablespoons of butter? There’s nothing filling about that. A 6-ounce chicken breast on the other hand, that’s a HUGE chicken breast. That’s not a small little pattie. Weigh it out. Six ounces is massive. It’s going to fill you up, it’s going to keep your blood sugar steady and that will help sustain your energy and reduce any subsequent cravings. Win, win, win.
If you have seen my pictures on Instagram, you know that salmon is one of my favorite proteins. Not only do I really enjoy the flavor, it’s also extremely versatile and delivers a ton of health benefits. Salmon is an excellent source of protein and healthy fats. It is rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which promote heart health, skin health and have been shown to decrease inflammation. Salmon delivers ample amounts of vitamins including fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E and water-soluble, energy boosting B vitamins.
Back to salmon being so versatile….for a powerhouse breakfast I’ll make an egg scramble with salmon and avocado. This fat and protein based breakfast keeps me full, keeps my blood sugar steady and maintains my energy for hours.
Other times, I’ll take a salmon filet and pan sear or grill it to enjoy along side Brussels sprouts or a large salad.
My favorite way to enjoy salmon is as salmon cakes. Not only do they taste amazing, but I utilize canned salmon for the salmon cakes. The canned salmon includes the skin and bones (no, you can’t taste them) so you are getting additional minerals like calcium and magnesium. My absolute favorite salmon cake recipe is from Diane Sanfilippo’s 21 Day Sugar Detox. They are absolutely amazing. I enjoy these a couple times a week, easily. I love to make them ahead and freeze whatever I’m not ready to cook.
Are you a salmon lover? What’s your favorite clean protein? Find me on facebook or Instagram and let me know! While you’re at it, check out my instagram pictures for lots of examples of how I incorporate protein into every meal. Have fun with it and try new things! Remember, not only is protein essential for overall health and optimal function of your body but its going to help you stay fuller longer while managing your energy and cravings!
Sometimes you need something sweet. You need it more than you need to freaking breathe. You aren’t getting anything else done until you’ve scoured your cabinets and found something sweet. Uh huh. I get it. I’ve been there. I still get there!!
There are several ways to keep that feeling at bay, but today we’re going to tackle it head on. I’m going to share with you some of the things I do when I just MUST have something sweet but don’t want to blow the day, go off the rails and undo the progress I’ve made.
I tend to use these strategies in order to see if I’m able to ride it out and have it pass or if I absolutely need to indulge.
Go for a walk. I know, I know – it’s a stall tactic. A diversion. It sure is! Getting outside to clear my head settles me down. Often, my cravings arise from stress or emotion and I seem to settle down instantly when I slow down outside. If the weather is crappy I’ll jump on the treadmill and put something mindless on TV or listen to music that makes me want to dance.
Take a hot shower. This is a reset button for me. It’s kind of funny how it works but taking a shower reminds me of how I want to take care of myself. I feel pampered, I feel like I’m making myself a priority. I use a luxurious exfoliating scrub and dry brush and more times than not I come out of the shower feeling slightly empowered. While I might still want something sweet, I’ve recharged my willpower battery and it’s easier to talk myself out of it.
Chew sugar-free gum. If you know me, you know it’s a bad moment when I realize I’m out. I used this strategy during the afternoon at work all the time. I couldn’t exactly go for a walk or jump in the shower – it would be 3pm and all I could think about was the nut, chocolate and berry trail mix in the break room. Ahhh! Gotta have gum!! It saved me more times than I care to count. (Special shout out to my girlfriend Crystal who let me steal her gum allllll the time!)
Have a diet soda. Before you jump out and call me a hypocrite (but you can, I’ll confess to really loving Diet Coke) there are some healthier options out there which are really tasty! My favorite is Zevia. It’s sweetened with Stevia (a natural, calorie free sweetener) and the cream soda flavor is unreal.
Protein power concoctions. I have created some pretty awesome (and absolutely terrible) protein-powder treats. They aren’t something I have every day but when needed, they do the trick for a sweet treat. My favorite is protein pudding. I’ll mix a scoop of protein powder with a drop or two of stevia, some vanilla extract, almond butter and just enough unsweetened almond milk to make it thick and creamy. So good! You can also find recipes online for protein microwave mug cakes (some of them are good, just don’t overcook them or they’ll literally turn into a brick).
Bite and Toss. This one is reserved for the most extreme circumstances and requires tremendous self-discipline. This is not for amateurs. Haha. Here’s how it works: a few weeks ago I was at Trader Joe’s getting groceries. I was overcome with the most undeniable urge for their peanut butter cup trail mix. I couldn’t say no. I bought it. I couldn’t even wait until I got home! I ripped it open while driving (massive bag that should last a family a week and probably cost me $9) and shoved a handful of the deliciousness right into my face. As I enjoy every second, I realized I could probably devour the bag mindlessly before getting home. So, I did what any normal person would do. I folded it up, set it aside, and didn’t eat anymore. Hahahaha. Yeah right! Who are you kidding? I did no such thing. I rolled down my window, held the bag from the bottom and let allllllll the delicious nuts, berries and peanut butter cups fall along the highway at 65 mph. Uh huh. I sure did. That was me, shaking out the bag along I-40. It wasn’t the first time. I’ve also gone into Whole Foods, bought a cookie, stood in the parking lot to take a bite and then tossed the rest of the cookie in the trash before I could talk myself into finishing “just one harmless little cookie”. If you can’t say no, at least say “just a bite” and then get rid of the rest!! Fast!
I’m glad I can laugh at myself throughout this process. Man, food is complicated and those cravings can get way powerful, can’t they? Give a couple of these strategies a try and let me know what you think. Oh, and if I pass you along the highway and you’re chucking Oreos out the window, I’ll smile and wave.
